


The Road to Rule

by WriterOfNoTalent



Category: Highschool DxD (Anime), 더 게이머 | The Gamer (Webcomic)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:34:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27131876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterOfNoTalent/pseuds/WriterOfNoTalent
Summary: Dying and waking up as a gamer wasn't what I expected, but I won't complain.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	The Road to Rule

It’s amazing the extent that two words can change your life. I’d been staring at these two words for what felt like hours just contemplating the sheer effect that these two words would have on my life.

**[Hello Gamer]**

Fuck me, I’m a Gamer.

Years of being a shut-in and reading fanfiction online left me well aware of what that meant.

A life of questing, stats and sociopathy.

**[The last part is optional]**

Yeah, yeah.

So how did I get here? I don’t remember dying.

**[...that’s not important]**

Was it embarrassing?

**[Not embarrassing, just not worth mention]**

I’m not going to get it out of you, am I?

**[Nope]**

Alright then game how’s this going to go?

**[To begin with, we’re going to create a character for you]**

Okay, how does this go then?

**[Please pick your starting Class]**

**[Rogue] [Fighter] [Mage]**

Class?

But I thought Gamers just levelled up and specced into stats and stuff?

**[Classes decide what skills and equipment you are proficient with and decide what Stats are increased upon levelling up]**

So I’m permanently stuck into one of these classes?

**[The available Classes are the first in their respect Career Trees]**

Okay, and what’s a Career Tree?

**[Career Tree’s are split into 5 tiers, with each tier increasing in terms of Stat Rewards but required EXP]**

Okay, and how many classes are there in each Career Tree?

**[There are 13 classes to a Career Tree]**

**[Now please pick a class]**

I chose Fighter immediately as it meant that no matter what setting I turned up in I would be able to defend myself without drawing too much attention, unlike a Mage, and I was always bad at being stealthy so Rogue was out for me.

**[Your Stats have been allocated]**

**Strength: 15 (15)**

**Endurance: 12 (12)**

**Dexterity: 13 (13)**

**Intelligence: 10 (10)**

**Wisdom: 10 (10)**

**Charisma: 20 (20)**

**Luck: 10 (10)**

Alright, I guess that looks alright for a starting point. So what now?

**[Now we move onto avatar creation]**

Right before me spawned a man, an average looking man, and a series of menus and sliders that I promptly began messing with.

I styled my appearance more towards being cute than burly or handsome, since if this was the body I was going to be using I wanted to be able to enjoy the look of it.

When I was done I stood about 5’4” and whilst I did pack some muscle on my form it was still fairly light. My hair was light, close to white with a slight pink tinge, and my eyes were made a vibrant ruby red with little freckles sprinkled around underneath and my skin was pale, comparable to fresh snow.

**[Please confirm your choices]**

Yeah, I’m happy with this body.

**[Please enter your new name]**

New name? What happened to my old name?

Wait, what is my old name?

Wait, what did I even use to look like?

**[There was some data loss during the transfer process]**

**[You will be compensated once character creation has completed]**

**[Please enter your new name]**

Okay, new body and a new name.

I’ll admit it took a fair bit before I was able to come up with a name and even then I wasn’t exactly proud of it, but it would do.

**[You have chosen the name (Alexander Ashe)]**

Yep, that’ll do for now.

Alright, is there anything else I need to do then?

**[Whilst it is not necessary, would you be willing to gamble?]**

With what?

**[You would gamble for a positive trait whilst also adding a negative trait to your character sheet]**

Can I get rid of negative traits?

**[Negative traits can be worked off either by training, increasing your stats or gaining a positive trait that affects the same thing]**

Alright then, what's the worst that can happen?

**[Genius]: Picking up and developing new skills will never be a problem for you**

**With this trait, the EXP gains are permanently doubled.**

**[Shed Armour, Gain Speed]: Armour is so cumbersome, right? Sure it means you can shrug off attacks if it's even slightly decent but it’s kind of worthless if you can’t hit anything while wearing it.**

**With this trait, your movement speed is decreased by 75% when wearing any form of armour.**

That’s not too bad in the grand scheme of things, I mean double EXP means I level quicker and my stats rise faster and if I get my stats high enough I won’t need any armour.

Okay, we’ll give it another go.

**[Living Sword]: When it comes to swords there is none greater than you, for it is as though they are a natural extension of your body when you wield them.**

**With this trait, when using swords, Skills will develop at 5x the Rate and are 5x as effective**

**With this trait, damage dealt by swords is increased by 2x**

**[Overspecialised]: When you set out to learn something you try and learn everything.**

**With this Trait to Unlock the next tier in your class tree, you must complete all the classes on your current tier.**

Still not too bad, I mean I’m a fighter so running around swinging swords at people is going to be my bread and butter for a while and considering there isn’t any particular class I’m interested in right now, being restrained to a single tier at any point in time doesn’t affect me all too badly.

Alright, rule of three. Let’s do one last roll.

**[Rapid Development]: You get a lot more out of training than most others would.**

**With this trait, the Stat gains from levelling a class are permanently doubled**

**[Crippling Overspecialisation]: You’ve set out to master your field, being unable to move beyond it until you’ve mastered every section within.**

**With this trait, you are now no longer able to pick classes from other trees until all of the tiers in your current class have been completed.**

…well shit. I really shouldn’t have pushed my luck.

How would I even get rid of  **[Overspecialisation]** and  **[Crippling Overspecialisation]** ?

**[Both of these traits will disappear after completion of one Class Tree]**

So 13 variants of fighter before I could hope to learn magic or pick up some non-direct combat classes.

Fuck me, that’s going to be tedious.

So, are we done here?

**[Incorrect, you are still to be compensated]**

Can my compensation be me losing  **[Crippling Overspecialisation]** ?

**[No]**

**[We figured this would serve you better]**

What would?

**[A legendary item has been added to your inventory]**

What the hell?

But before I could even think to check my inventory, a bright flash blinded me and I felt myself being pulled away.

* * *

***BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BE-***

The rapidly beeping device quickly stopped doing so as I slapped at it, smashing buttons on the top of it before it fell silent. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and sat upright, sighing in disappointment as I noted the lack of any decoration in my room

**[Your Health, Stamina and Mana have been restored]**

**[You have received the ‘Well Rested’ Status Effect]**

Well-rested my arse.

I feel like I just went ten rounds with a professional boxer who I owed money to. Perhaps it has something to do with being dragged from wherever the hell I was into wherever the hell I am now.

Speaking of, what the hell was that?

**[The Gap Between Realities]**

That… isn't ominous-sounding at all.

Shit, if I had an alarm does that mean I’ve got something to do?

**Sat 07:01**

Who the hell sets an alarm on a Saturday?

**[You did, or at least your body did]**

I’m fucking myself over now.

Alright, then, what've I got to look at.

**Name: Alexander Ashe**

**Age: 16**

**Race: Human**

**Alignment: True Neutral**

**Class Level: 1 (0/250 EXP)**

**Credits: 0**

**Damage Resistance: 0%**

**Damage Reduction: 0**

**Hit Points: 225/225 (21 HP/Sec)**

**Stamina Points: 165/165 (15 SP/Sec)**

**Magic Points: 125/125 (11 MP/Sec)**

Okay, see the problem with that is I don’t have anything I can compare to right now. For all I know I might as well be outmatched by a bloody kitten.

Skills, what skills do I have.

**Passive Skills**

**[Bladed Weapon Proficiency (Novice)] {Level: 1/100}**

**This skill is a measure of your proficiency with blades. As you gain levels in this skill you will become more adept at using weapons that fall under this category.**

**Damage Modifier: 1%**

**Attack Speed Modifier: 1%**

**[Blunt Weapon Proficiency (Novice)] {Level: 1/100}**

**This skill is a measure of your proficiency with blunt weapons. As you gain levels in this skill you will become more adept at using weapons that fall under this category.**

**Damage Modifier: 1%**

**Attack Speed Modifier: 1%**

**[Polearm Weapon Proficiency (Novice)] {Level: 1/100}**

**This skill is a measure of your proficiency with polearms. As you gain levels in this skill you will become more adept at using weapons that fall under this category.**

**Damage Modifier: 1%**

**Attack Speed Modifier: 1%**

**[Ranged Weapon Proficiency (Novice)] {Level: 1/100}**

**This skill is a measure of your proficiency with ranged weapons. As you gain levels in this skill you will become more adept at using weapons that fall under this category.**

**Damage Modifier: 1%**

**Attack Speed Modifier: 1%**

**[Thrown Weapons Proficiency (Novice)] {Level: 1/100}**

**This skill is a measure of your proficiency with throwing weapons. As you gain levels in this skill you will become more adept at using weapons that fall under this category.**

**Damage Modifier: 1%**

**Attack Speed Modifier: 1%**

**Active Skills (Physical)**

**[Power Strike] {Level: 1/100} (Cost: 200 SP)**

**To put your all behind your attacks and deal further damage at a greater cost to your stamina.**

**Damage Increase: 50%**

**Active Skills (Magic)**

**[ID: Create] {Level: 1/25} (Cost: 100 MP)**

**A basic skill in the arsenal of the Gamer, this allows for the instantaneous creation of a dungeon for the Gamer to level inside.**

**Types: Undead**

**[Observe] {Level: 1/100} (Cost: 25 MP)**

**A basic skill in the arsenal of the Gamer, this skill allows for instantaneous information gathering of a target that you can see.**

That’s a lot of proficiencies with weapons but only one physical skill?

**[Skills are created by actions on your part and are determined by what your classes allow you to be proficient with]**

And because I’m a fighter I’m proficient with most forms of standardised weaponry but since I don’t have any regular experience I need to learn 

Well, at least I’ve got  **[ID: Create]** , soon as I’m done here I can check that out.

Well, let’s have a look at that Legendary item then.

My inventory contained only one item, a sword. A very distinct and likely very powerful sword.

**[Caliburn, Golden Sword of the Victorious]**

**{Legendary}**

**_“Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone is rightwise king of all England”_ **

**The holy sword pulled from the stone by King Arthur, this sword denotes the divine right to rule all of England and should the wielder prove worthy this sword will reveal its true power.**

**Sadly, the sword has deemed you unworthy of that status, though it's open to changing its mind.**

**Damage**

**100x STR**

**5x INT (Holy)**

It was beautiful. The blade was decorated with gold, jewels and various engravings. It was large enough that I would need both hands to wield it properly and the faint glow it gave off in my hands was oddly comforting to see. 

Still, it was slightly annoying that the sword was weakening itself because I wasn’t bloody King Arthur. I wonder if there's a way I can get around that issue.

**[** **The Road to Rule** **]**

**You’ve come into ownership of the Sword that denotes Kingship, one of the most famous blades in Arthurian mythos, and have set out on the journey to prove your worth to it and gain access to its power.**

**[** **Main Objectives** **]**

**Reach Level 100 with the Fighter class**

**Reach Level 100 with the Knight class**

**Reach Level 100 with the Paladin class**

**Reach Level 100 with Magic Knight class**

**Reach Level 100 with the Hero class**

**[** **Side Objectives** **]**

**Slay 10000 Foes with Caliburn**

**Reach ‘Outstanding’ reputation with 5 Factions**

**?**

**[** **Main Rewards** **]**

**100000 EXP**

**100000 Credits**

**Trait (Worthy)**

**?**

**?**

**?**

**?**

**[** **Side Rewards** **]**

**Side Objective One**

**20000 EXP**

**20000 Credits**

**Caliburn will be further Empowered**

**Side Objective Two**

**20000 EXP**

**20000 Credits**

**+250 Charisma**

**Side Objective Three**

**?**

**?**

**?**

**[** **Failure Conditions** **]**

**Lose Caliburn**

**Reach Evil Alignment**

**Die before completion**

That’s a lot of levelling to do, but there’s no time limit on the quest so I can do it in my own time at least.

I got out of bed, dismissing Caliburn back into my inventory, and spent the next few minutes inspecting my room. The walls were bare, painted a plain grey, and the floor was a cream carpet. There was a wardrobe built into the wall, though it only contained a series of grey school uniforms.

I’d need to add some colour to this room, and soon if I didn’t desire to lose my mind within it.

**[A new Quest has been added]**

**[** **Professions and Property Management** **]**

**It’s time to get you educated on Professions and how to manage and alter your property.**

**[** **Main Objectives** **]**

**Go through the Property Management Tutorial**

**Pick up a Profession**

**[** **Main Rewards** **]**

**1000 Credits**

**1000 EXP**

Hey, I won’t complain about free money and EXP.

Okay game, so what's this property management tutorial.

**[Please open your Properties Menu]**

I navigated my way through the various menus of the system before opening it up.

**Properties**

**House (Unnamed) [Current World]**

**[The properties menu will list all businesses, housing and land that you have earned/purchased throughout the various worlds you will inevitably travel through]**

So it keeps inventory of my houses, why does this need a tutorial?

**[With housing you can decorate, expand and add profession equipment remotely]**

**[With businesses you can employ, manage stock and inventory and collect a percentage of the profits remotely]**

**[With land you can organise building efforts, resource gathering and general maintenance remotely]**

Oh, that’s pretty cool then.

So how do I decorate my house with the system?

**[Select your House]**

Doing so the menu further expanded.

**Attic (Storage)**

**First floor (Master Bedroom {Occupied}, Guest Bedroom, Bathroom,**

**Ground floor (Kitchen, Lounge and utility rooms)**

**Basement (Storage)**

**[Select one of these sections and then select the room you would like to alter]**

I selected the Master Bedroom, considering that was where I was already so I’d be able to immediately confirm any changes.

A series of options popped up, ranging from changing the colour of the walls (Cadet Grey, who knew?) and the carpet to change the size of my wardrobe or bed.

Slight problem, all of them cost money and I was flat broke.

**[For the tutorial we will cover any mandatory costs]**

In the end, I just decided to change my single bed out for a king-sized bed.

In a flash of blue light, the bed changed and my room became slightly more full, though there was still enough room to fit a desk and maybe a few cupboards.

Alright, what now?

**[Now we move onto professions]**

Okay, what's a profession?

**[Professions are Classes that only level when you do something involving their purpose rather than levelling from Quest EXP or Combat]**

What, are they like crafting classes?

**[Exactly]**

**[For you to unlock a Profession you must own at least one property, which you already do, in which you can practise your craft]**

**[Now please pick your profession]**

About a dozen options popped up ranging from chefs to various smiths and even enchanters.

But I chose the most powerful of all crafting classes, at least if my memories of Skyrim haven’t betrayed me.

**(Alchemist): Potions are your craft, forging powerful poisons or potions that can make even the weakest of men contend with even the gods**

**Stats: 5 Intelligence, 3 Wisdom, 2 Luck**

**Level: 1 (0/250 EXP)**

**[Now that you have chosen your profession to select one of your Storage rooms]**

I chose the basement, seeing as I was more likely to use that for actually doing stuff than using the attic.

**[Now add an Alchemist's Lab to your selected room]**

Done and done.

**[Now go interact with your professions kit]**

...fuck.

Wandering around the house in my underwear looking for the basement door was not how I expected to spend my morning but this is my new life.

When I finally made my way down to the basement I saw in the far left corner a table covered in various beakers and flasks.

**[Alchemists Table]**

**This is where an alchemist brews their various potions.**

**[Now that you have found your equipment you may now brew a potion]**

**[You have received: 1x Wheat, 1x Blue Mountain Flower]**

My hands functioned on autopilot as I dragged the ingredients out of my inventory and placed them on the table.

I had no clue what I was doing, though my body didn’t seem to need me to as it manoeuvred around the table and brewed a bright red potion inside a little tube with a cap on top of it.

**[You have successfully created: Potion of Minor Health Restoration]**

**[Potion of Minor Health Restoration]**

**{Common}**

**Upon being consumed this potion will restore 5% of the users’ health**

**[50 EXP!]**

**[For discovering a new potion recipe you have received an additional 100 EXP]**

**[There you go, you now know how crafting professions work and how to alter your property]**

Alright, but where do I get more ingredients for crafting?

**[You can either gather them yourself or purchase them from the Store section of the system]**

**[Professions and Property Management has been completed]**

**[Would you like to turn in this Quest?]**

Yeah, I’ll take some free EXP.

**[You have received 1000 Credits]**

**[You have Levelled Up! X2]**

Nice, what’s that put my stats at?

**Stats**

**Strength: 40 (40)**

**Endurance: 22 (22)**

**Dexterity: 28 (28)**

**Intelligence: 20 (20)**

**Wisdom: 16 (16)**

**Charisma: 20 (20)**

**Luck: 14 (14)**

Hey game, can you show me that Store section?

* * *

About three hours and 1000 Credits later I was sat on the floor of my kitchen clutching a letter that had been left on the counter, its place being taken by the 101  **[Potion of Minor Health Restoration]** that I’d just spent the last few hours of my life working away on.

The upside of alchemy using cheap materials for low-level items is that I could just grind out a hundred of them and benefit from the massive amount of EXP I'd get from them. The store sold low-level crafting materials for about 5 Credits each, so I blew through the little money I had and just crafted away.

But I didn’t care since I’d gotten plenty of experience from doing so, Alchemist was sitting at just short of level 7, and that whilst the potions were individually weak they were still a good sign since it meant that health potions worked off my total health and not a fixed amount.

Once I’d been done crafting I took the time to get dressed properly and inspect the rest of my house. It was a decently sized place, though it was severely lacking in decoration so it would probably be a long time before I had any over.

Still, the letter gave me some information about  _ who _ I was supposed to be. I was supposed to start attendance at a new school, Kuoh Academy, and with that, all sense of joy from my levelling disappeared into a state of what I could only describe as the mother of all ‘oh fucks’.

I was in Highschool DxD, the series of big-tiddy devils and perverts which boasted some frankly ridiculous power levels. If you had power this was a pretty decent place, though if you didn’t it was a pretty wank place to live. 

Which is why I shouldn’t be sitting here wasting my time. I had two days before I was being forced to enter what could quite possibly be hostile territory and right now I was a fighter whose highest stat was intelligence and who had little use for it.

**[** **Armed and Ready** **]**

**You're going in outnumbered and outgunned. You’d be out of your mind if you didn’t prepare yourself for the possibility of a fight.**

**[** **Main Objectives** **]**

**Reach Level 25 before Monday**

**[** **Side Objectives** **]**

**Reach Level 50 before Monday**

**Reach Level 100 before Monday**

**[** **Main Rewards** **]**

**5000 EXP**

**5000 Credits**

**1x Gacha Token**

**[** **Side Rewards** **]**

**Side Objective One**

**10000 EXP**

**10000 Credits**

**3x Gacha Tokens**

**(Rapid Development) Trait**

**Side Objective Two**

**25000 EXP**

**25000 Credits**

**5x Gacha Tokens**

**(Prodigy) Trait**

**[** **Failure Conditions** **]**

**Fail to meet the minimum level requirements**

**Die**

**[ID: Create]**

My kitchen disappeared in a flash of light, replaced with a worked stone wall and floors. There was no light in my room through the only door; there was a corridor lined with torches and roughly a dozen open prison cell style doors.

**The Undead Keep**

**(Recommended Level: 1-20)**

**Total Surviving Enemies: 100%**

With sword in hand and a straight path ahead, I marched forward, though I took the time to investigate the various rooms that had their doors open. It was only in the last room, which was the only one to have its door still shut, that I finally found something.

It was a corpse wrapped in rags, rotting green flesh and sunken milky eyes staring straight at me. I was content to leave it be until suddenly it slammed its body against the door and lunged through the gaps to try and grab at me.

**Name: Hollow**

**Level: 1**

**HP: 125/125**

**SP: 25/75**

I guess I should have expected the corpse to come to life considering this is an undead themed dungeon. Still, Hollows from Dark Souls as a starting enemy made my life easier considering in the grand scheme of things they were only dangerous in high numbers.

Jabbing Caliburn through the gaps in the door I impaled the Hollow through the skull, causing it to fall limp and eventually collapse when I pulled it back out.

**[50 EXP]**

**[Bladed Weapon Proficiency (Novice) has Levelled Up!]**

**[Auto Loot: Bone (Human), Rotting Flesh (Human)]**

Auto loot?

**[Auto-Loot will pick up any drops from foes you slay so you don’t have to search through corpses to find items they dropped]**

Oh, then thanks for the help.

50 EXP for a starter mob is pretty good and with how easily this sword dropped him I was quite eager to throw myself into the fray if a majority of enemies were like this. Though I believe I wouldn’t have to wait long considering the rapidly approaching footsteps. 

Suddenly a large figure stood at the end of the hallway wearing armour which looked like it was falling apart or in some cases fusing to their skin. He was carrying a sword roughly as large as him, though he didn’t seem to struggle with the size of it.

**Name: Hollow Soldier**

**Level: 10**

**HP: 500/500**

**SP: 300/300**

He swung the sword overhead, just barely missing the ceiling as he did so, and brought it down hard enough to crack the stone when I dodged to the side. Before he could move further I lunged at him, mimicking his downward slash, and cut him from shoulder to hip as Caliburn cut through him like a hot knife through butter.

**[200 EXP]**

**[Bladed Weapon Proficiency (Novice) has Levelled Up!]**

**[Auto Loot: Bone (Human), Rotting Flesh (Human), Bastard Sword]**

A legendary holy sword versus low-level undead, it was no wonder they practically fell apart the second I hit them. This should be easy then.

* * *

“Shitshitshitshitshit-” I’d fucked up. I’d fucked up.

Never say something is going easy.

I mean it was all going well and good, I was butchering my way through hollows and the odd soldier or infantry unit with relative impunity. It wasn’t until I found the exit that I was driven to the state I was in.

Roughly a dozen and a bit men wearing a plate cuirass over chainmail and thick leathers, each one carrying greatswords. They were waiting at the exit from this dungeon and with the high numbers and scale of their equipment I thought they would be more dangerous than most of the other hollows within this dungeon but hollows weren’t smart, they were mindless corpses barely functioning so I didn’t have the greatest fear of them.

I should have, I should have made sure the rear was clear. I shouldn’t have engaged them in an open space where they could make use of their numbers.

They weren’t like the other Hollows, they weren’t blindly repeating actions or attacking with random flailing. They were coordinated, they were skilled and they were  **PISSED** .

Killing one was easy enough before they could act was easy, fighting the others were not and so now I was

If that wasn’t bad enough my dumb ass sprinting through the dungeon had the unfortunate effect of alerting near enough every enemy I’d missed on my way through. So now I wasn’t just dealing with high numbers of foes 

One of them stumbled out a cell ahead of me and that's when an idea formed. I slammed into the Hollow that blocked my path, hacking him apart before taking a position on the other side of the doorway.

The doorway was the only thing I could think of, to funnel them through a small opening so that their number advantage wouldn't matter as much and since I was in a cell there was no way for them to flank around the rear and attack.

Swords, spears, daggers, hammers and dozens upon dozens of hands shot through the gap but it mattered little. When it seemed too many would come through, bodies were used to hold the door, thrown and kicked into the undead hordes that were trying to slam through.

I just kept slashing and stabbing away, unwilling to back away for fear that that would give them enough space to overwhelm me. The excessive size of my foes weaponry worked in my favour as they couldn’t find the space to swing them properly and those that relied on stabbing were found to have their friends' bodies serving as makeshift shields.

I wasn’t sure how long I stood in that room, my body moving on auto-pilot as I hacked away. It was not graceful, nor particularly skilled, it was simple violence for the sake of survival.

The floor was pooled with blood, thick and putrid, and the corpses were piled up as high as I was tall. It’s at times like this I regret wearing my only good pair of casual shoes. I’ll have to burn these when I get back and replace them. 

**[7150 EXP]**

**[You have Levelled Up! x3]**

**[Bladed Weapon Proficiency (Novice) has Levelled Up! x13]**

**[400 EXP]**

**[Auto Loot: 48x Bones (Human), 48x Rotting Flesh (Human), 3x Royal Greatsword, 1x Dagger, 1x Winged Spear 10x Mind Stat Crystal, 6x Body Stat Crystal, 10x Heart Crystal, 13x Gacha Token]**

**Total Surviving Enemies: 1%**

**Name: Alexander Ashe**

**Age: 16**

**Race: Human**

**Alignment: True Neutral**

**Class Level: 12 (650/3000 EXP)**

**Profession Level: 6 (1400/1500 EXP)**

**Total Levels: 18**

**Credits: 0**

**Damage Resistance: 0%**

**Damage Reduction: 0**

**Hit Points: 1600/1600 (272 HP/Sec)**

**Stamina Points: 885/885 (70 SP/Sec)**

**Magic Points: 1000/1000 (82 MP/Sec)**

Crawling over a pile of rotting corpses was an experience I never thought I’d have to go through, especially if I was the killer.

The walk back to exit was slower, my steps were more measured and I was more observant of the path and any rooms that could house more foes.

The final doorway was filled with a thick grey fog, a boss door.

Okay, think. Undead Keep but I’m in a dungeon so it might be the asylum demon. 

No, that doesn’t make sense. These were Dark Souls 2 enemies so it's much more likely to be a boss from there. 

Undead themed dungeon, soldiers, infantry and swordsman. I’d have to bet it's either the Ruin Sentinels or The Pursuer. Ruin Sentinels would be more dangerous, numbers will always be a problem until I either get armour or simply grow strong enough to deal with them fast enough.

Passing through the fog was strange, it felt as though there was a hand on my back trying to stop me whilst a dozen more tried to pull me through.

On the other side of the door was an empty courtyard, scattered battlements and barricades littered the field as well as several rather brutalised bodies. The main gate was wide open and I could see the bridge itself was down, yet there was no sign of the boss, not immediately. 

It was only when I crossed the halfway boundary of the field that I heard what sounded like heavy wings flapping. When a great shadow passed over me I looked up to see what looked like a giant raven carrying a large figure in heavy plate armour carrying an excessively large sword and shield and roughly a dozen weapons fixed upon his back.

Okay, so definitely the Pursuer.

**Name: The Pursuer**

**Level: 20**

**HP: 10000/10000**

**SP: 7500/7500**

He fell from the sky, impacting the ground hard enough to leave a small crater upon impact before rising and floating several inches above the ground, adding to his already impressive stature. His sword was almost as wide as me and was a foot or two taller than me.

He braced himself, readying his shield in front of his body, before shooting forward like a cannonball and attempting to carve me in half with his sword. His speed was greater than his form would suggest, as even with my relatively high  **[Dexterity]** and my unarmoured physique giving me a little reduction in manoeuvrability I was still having to put an incredible amount of focus on just tracking his movements, let alone dodge them.

I just needed a single opening, one good moment to throw my all at him. I wasn’t sure how Caliburn would interact with armour, would it cut straight through or would I be stuck with a foe I lacked any real way to damage.

Minute by minute I remained on the defensive, conserving my stamina and waiting for an opening whilst The Pursuer tried to keep up his relentless aggression.

Tried being the opportune word.

With each blow I successfully dodged I saw through him more and more, patterns in his attacks and tactics became more apparent. When his blade began to glow blue and he began preparing something I saw my opportunity to strike.

With as much strength as I could put behind my blow, reinforced by  **[Power Strike]** , I carved through the armour around his waist and cut clean through to the other side. Before his top half hit the ground he broke apart into a thick black fog.

**[You have received 20000 EXP!]**

**[You have Levelled Up! x4]**

**[Bladed Weapon Proficiency (Novice) has Levelled Up! x10]**

**[Power Strike has Levelled Up! x5]**

**[For reaching 100 Endurance you have received a new Trait]**

**[Iron Stomach]: Your stomach is a truly powerful thing that is capable of breaking down and digesting things that would normally be impossible, or at the very least dangerous, for normal consumption.**

**This trait prevents Negative status effects from any items consumed.**

**[The Dungeon has been cleared]**

**[ID: Create has Leveled Up!]**

**[New Dungeon (The Magisters Fort) has been unlocked]**

**[You have earned 10000 EXP]**

**[You have Levelled Up! X2]**

**[For reaching 200 Strength you have received a new Trait]**

**[Unyielding Form]: Your body is an incredibly hardy thing, shrugging off attacks much better than a normal man.**

**With this trait, your passive damage resistance is increased by 5%**

**[You have earned 5000 Credits]**

**[For completing the Dungeon you have received a Dungeon reward]**

**[You have received (Covetous Silver Serpent Ring)]**

**[Covetous Silver Serpent Ring]**

**{Rare}**

**A silver ring depicting a serpent, an imperfect dragon and symbol of the undead. Its habit of devouring prey even larger than itself has led to an association with gluttony.**

**Whilst worn EXP gains are increased by 20%.**

Behind that stream of notifications, I realised I had been placed back into my kitchen. A quick look at the clock told me it was 11:37. I’d been gone for an hour and a half.

An hour and a half and I’d gained over 16 levels.

Hey Game, is there any point for me repeating dungeon levels?

**[With each repeat of a dungeon the amount of EXP you’ll receive will be decreased by 25% but you will get more of the available dungeon rewards and a special reward upon receiving all of them]**

…

I was covered in undead blood and flesh. I stunk and felt like shit. 

Well if I’m already dirty I may as well keep going.

Back into the dungeon, I go.


End file.
